If you want to understand why QuestionCopyright.org exists and what we're trying to do, you couldn't ask for a more succint demonstration than this passage below from Le Guin's petition:

The free and open dissemination of information and of literature, as it exists in our Public Libraries, can and should exist in the electronic media. All authors hope for that. But we cannot have free and open dissemination of information and literature unless the use of written material continues to be controlled by those who write it or own legitimate right in it. (emphasis added)

When an intelligent, sensitive author like Ursula K. Le Guin can write something like that, apparently oblivious to the glaring internal contradiction, it's clear the time is ripe for this issue to be radically reframed.

"To have freedom, we must have monopoly and control. Up is down. Love is hate. War is peace."

We got this submission from a performance artist who wishes to remain anonymous, for reasons that will be clear below (though we've verified that it is from a well-regarded performer). While we generally run attributed pieces, it's good to have a reminder once in a while that there are many artists who are impeded by copyright but who, for professional reasons, can't talk about it openly. When trying to measure the damage done by copyright restrictions, one must allow for the fact that creative repression is an underreported crime.

I have this one show which is kind of languishing, in part because I don't know what to do about the music. I developed the show over the course of a couple of years, playing around with different pieces of music as the show evolved. When I came to the point where the show was "finished" and I had found music, I was so overwhelmed at the prospect of licensing it all that I... just never did.

I showed the piece once, without doing any licensing, to a packed house and a very warm reception. I did, by the way, contact the artists who made the music in my show. They're local. And they were like, "Oh, hey, this sounds great. Yeah, go for it. But you know, it's not our permission you need."

Sita Sings the Blues will have a week-long run in New York City's IFC Film Center, December 25th – 31st! January 5th! January 26

This is was a full theatrical run, with 7-8 screenings a day. The filmmaker, Nina Paley will be doing Q&A after the 8:25pm shows most nights. On Monday, Dec. 28th, the conversation will be about the film's free distribution model and the free culture movement.

It's kind of unbelieveable that this thing has been extended for 5 weeks. Granted, it's down to just one show a day now. But we only thought it would run one week, so this run has exceeded everyone's expectations.

Tickets are available online. Here's a show schedule (click on the time to purchase tickets for that show):

Woo! New showtimes - Click on the time to purchase tickets for a screening.

Nina says, "I'm doing Q and A's tonight and tomorrow after the 8:30ish shows, then Friday and Saturday after the 4:40pm shows. Then I might take a little break, who knows." no more Q and A's - they were fun for the first 3 weeks though!

Copyright notice: These web pages are devoted to questioning the idea that copyright is necessary for the promotion of creative expression. Therefore, our content is released to the public and can be considered to be in the public domain: you may copy, share, excerpt, modify, and distribute modified versions of this and other pages from QuestionCopyright.org. We ask, but do not require, that you credit QuestionCopyright.org when appropriate and link back to the original article for online citation. When we publish articles by others, or quote from articles originally published elsewhere, that content is of course still under its original copyright. However, we only publish material that is available under a free license (except for short quotes covered by so-called "fair use" doctrine), so you'll still have all the aforementioned rights.